There are profound connections between stars, atoms and life that place human culture
in the
grand outline of the development of the universe. This perspective has been called the 'cosmic
adventure'.
The adventure began in a hot and undifferentiated broth of radiation. Eventually,
on our tiny planet in
a remote corner of a small galaxy. there developed the incredible complexity of life, human
consciousness and culture. We now appreciate that the universe, at least over the long haul, has
moved toward increasingly more intense forms of ordered novelty. In this respect, we can say that
it does have at least a net directionality to it, particularly here on Earth, where there is significantly
more ordered novelty than there was three minutes after the Big Bang. We have arrived throughout
the fifteen billion years of cosmic development as part of a process that has kept a balance
between pairs of primeval qualities. These qualities are:
- harmony and contrast;
- order and unpredictability;
- unity and complexity;
- pattern and nuance;
- homogeneity and diversity;
- stability and novelty.
The existence of the universe and everything in it depends on the internal ordering
of its
components. As far as we can see, it was six numbers imprinted in the 'Big Bang' that have
maintained the trajectory of cosmic ecology as a balance of qualities. Two of the numbers relate to
the basic forces; two fix the size and the overall texture of the universe and determine whether it
will continue for ever, and two more fix the properties of space itself. If any one of these numbers
was slightly different at the start there would be no stars and no life.
The qualities have existed before human evolution and in this sense they define the
non-human
purpose of the cosmos as a physico-chemical process. Therefore, in thinking about cosmic
purpose we must separate ourselves from the modern bias that nature is a value-neutral canvas
that remains blank until we have painted it with our cultural and political inventions. The core of
human distinctiveness is that we are capable of thinking about the internal ordering of the universe
and our planetary systems so as to understand how these qualities are expressed.
This attitude has an important bearing on the way we view our heritage in its cosmic,
ecological
and social dimensions. There are currently two views about the direction of cosmic development
and our place in it. After the universe was energised from the void, the ordering of novelty followed
the sequence of energy, particles, stars, planets, materials and life forms. Process theology takes
the view that the direction was governed by a programme of development according to divine will.
Process humanism takes the view that our universe is just one of an infinity of universes bubbling
up at random from the void. Most would be untuned to allow the evolution of life. Our universe is a
rarity with the right combination of the key numbers to ensure that it survives and developed as an
intricately structured cosmos. Terrestrial evolution is the story of one such outcome, as are the
political and technological endeavours of nations of the earth.
Process theology says that the self-creativity of all constituents of
the cosmos willed by God
deserve our care because they are especially intense actualisations of divinely inspired creativity
and cosmic beauty. When nature suffers, God suffers.
Process humanism says that to gain an appropriate sense of our human
worth we need to
become aware of our creative potential to work towards global order. Therefore, intervention to
maintain a balance of qualities that define our biological and social heritage, by ordering novelty
and unifying complexity, is a small part of the grand cosmic purpose.
Both points of view provide us with a knowledge framework for thinking about cultural
ecology that
is deeply rooted in cosmology. Also, they recapture the ancient spiritual sense that we live in a
meaningful and intrinsically valuable world and do so in a manner entirely consonant with
contemporary science. Humanity's origins and practical capabilities require it to participate in
sustaining the cosmic process as a balance of qualities that define our place in nature as much as
our attitudes to the uses of nature that are expressed in technology, art, architecture and
literature. In particular, this vision involves recognising that conservation of biodiversity is not
just
for humans or valueless apart from them.
